1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the field of firearms training and more specifically relates to the accurate and realistic simulation of firearm recoil during training
2. Related Art
Due to current world events, there is an urgent need for highly effective law enforcement, security, and military training. Training generally involves practicing marksmanship skills with lethal and/or non-lethal weapons. Additionally, training involves the development of decision-making skills in situations that are stressful and potentially dangerous. Indeed, perhaps the greatest challenges faced by a trainee are when to use force and how much force to use. If an officer is unprepared to make rapid decisions under the various threats he or she faces, injury to the officer or citizens may result.
One training technique that has been in use for many years is the utilization of a simulation system to conduct training exercises. Simulation provides a cost effective means of teaching initial weapon handling skills and some decision-making skills, and provides training in real-life situations in which live-fire may be undesirable due to safety or other restrictions.
Simulation systems for such training have included many types of simulated weapons, including simulated weapons adapted from functional firearms such as pistols and rifles. In order to preserve the safety of the trainees and trainers in the simulate environment, simulated weapons will typically employ a simulated projectile that is used to replace the actual bullets that would be fired from a fully operational weapon. In most sophisticated training simulations, laser light is used to simulate the projectile.
These simulators often employ a simulated weapon that generates a safe, low-power light source (e.g., laser). The laser is configured to generate a sharp beam of light from the simulated weapon that can be projected onto almost any surface. Depending on the scenario, the target may be a few feet or many yards away from the trainee. In addition, these simulators will often employ one or more video screens that are configured to display various training scenarios to the trainee. Controlled by a computer system, the firearm training simulator system can track the trainee's response to the various scenarios, including the location of the laser light emitted from the simulated weapon. By tracking and reporting the performance of the trainee, it is possible to ascertain the accuracy of the trainee and well as reaction time and other parameters that are used to enhance the training for the trainee.
One problem encountered with most known training systems is the inability of the laser system to accurately simulate the recoil of a fully functional weapon. Many simulators use fully functional weapons that are modified with components that include a barrel body, internal valve, piston, modified magazine, interface block, spring and a shock sensor. Additionally, a laser insert is used to simulate the projectile that would be fired from the barrel of the weapon.
These modified training weapons are usually designed to work with a compressed gas (e.g., air, nitrogen or CO2) that is connected to the weapon and that can be quickly installed and removed from the weapon. In these training systems, the shock sensor is configured to activate the laser based on the shock that occurs when the hammer of the simulated weapon contacts the firing pin of the simulated weapon. However, in many cases, shock sensor used to activate the laser doesn't register the shock from the hammer throw, but will register the shock that occurs during the recoil cycle. This may be only a split second in time, but in that time, the barrel position has often changed significantly and the laser-generated projectile will register as being “off target.”
The use of a shock sensor and compressed gas to simulate actual cycling of the weapon, while effective from a safety standpoint, does not always capture an the relationship between trigger pull and firing of the weapon, thereby lessening the overall realism and effectiveness of the training scenario. Without improvements to the current methods of simulating the firing of a weapon, including the recoil cycle, the results obtained from simulated firearms training systems will continue to be sub-optimal.